Sunday, April 1, 2012

About being MIA...

First off let me say how much I have missed posting on this blog. I'm so sorry I have been MIA. I wanted to give you a little insight to my life the past 3 months and why I haven't posted.


I am expecting my first child this September! With that being said the first trimester whooped my butt. With a lack of energy and the joy of nausea I barely turned on my lap top or even put on make up most days. I'm starting to feel a lot better and more myself. Not to mention finally beginning to enjoy my new adventure in life. 

I may not post as often as I'd want to but know I always appreciate your support. Thank you for always reading and I will have some new goods to share with you soon!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Lime Crime: Carousel Gloss Collection

I'm going to start this review by being completely honest when I say I don't usually like lip gloss. Which may be sacrilege to some of you but its true - I'm just not a fan. How can this be you may be wondering?  Typically its the texture because I hate anything super sticky on my lips and the lack of pigmentation. If I wear anything on my lips I want it bold and in your face but most lip glosses doesn't meet that expectation. I have tried numerous brands of gloss and usually give them away to friends. I just stick to my Lip Tars and call it good --- until Lime Crime released their Carousel Gloss Collection at the end of November. 

 
From Lime Crime's website: "Carousel Gloss boasts semi-opaque coverage combined with bursts of nebulesque sparkle that comes alive in indoor lighting. Cruelty-free/vegan formula glides on smoothly on bare lips or over your favorite lipstick. Each gloss arrives in a sumptuous purple foil box resembling an antique merry-go-round — the ultimate gift (or indulgence) for those seeking a little luxury in their makeup bag."

Opaque & full of glitter? SIGN ME UP! Carousel Gloss retails for $17.00 per tube or $65.00 for the full set of 5 ($13.00 per tube if you order the set) so I bit the bullet and ordered all 5. I placed my first order with Lime Crime on December 13th & received in the mail on December 21st. Which isn't too shabby considering its mid-December and I'm sure they are slammed with orders. Everything arrived safe in a unicorn adorned pink box.


Marketing Included w/ Order
5 stars to Lime Crime for their marketing & packaging. The Carousel Gloss arrived in beautiful purple foil boxes but once I got the product out of the box I was totally impressed. The plastic tubes themselves resemble the twisted brass poles (minus a mounted beastie) found on a merry go round. The tubes themselves have a decent weight and do not feel flimsy.




Embossed Unicorn on Top <3
To catch the sparkle in the tubes I took some up close pics of each.

Loop-De-Loop
Cherry On Top
Kaleidoscope
Candy Apple
Golden Ticket
Candy Apple, Golden Ticket, Loop-De-Loop, Cherry On Top & Kaleidoscope
Candy Apple, Golden Ticket, Loop-De-Loop, Cherry On Top & Kaleidoscope
Applicator Brush from Candy Apple
The applicator brush is stubby and provides decent coverage when applied. I prefer brushes over the spongey applicators however I'm not used to working with such a short/nubby brush so my precision skills need a bit of adjustment as I had a bit of trouble getting a straight line around the edges of my mouth (having lip rings doesn't help either). Carousel Gloss is highly pigmented so expect a stain after using it and it has a thick consistency but is not sticky (PRAISE!). Loop-De-Loop & Kaleidoscope need more then one layer because it does streak (as you will see in my pics) or would do better layered over a lipstick which is how I'll probably wear them.

 
Golden Ticket

Cherry On Top

Loop-De-Loop

Candy Apple

Kaleidoscope. Excuse messy edges - should have blotted again >.<

 Okay Gals - I'm a believer because I totally love these lip glosses. I wore Golden Ticket to work on Wednesday and it stayed for 4 hours before I wanted to touch it up after a cup of coffee. Candy Apple, Cherry On Top & Golden Ticket are my favorites out of the set but all of them are downright gorgeous. 

Carousel Gloss is a Limited Edition product from Lime Crime so be sure to swipe them up this winter if you want them. I hope that Lime Crime releases another set of Carousel Gloss in 2012 because I will be ALL over them.

Thanks for reading! XOXO

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Inglot Cosmetics: Swatch Fest!


During Black Friday weekend Inglot was offering a stellar sale, 15% off the entire site with free shipping, and since they never have sales I jumped all over it. I ordered 3 Freedom 10 pan palettes & 30 shadows. I re-worked the one 10 pan palette I had already to color theme into the shades I purchased. So there will be some duplicate swatches from my prior Inglot post here with the new. 
 
10 Pan Palette ($15.00)
Eye Shadow Square ($5.00 ea)


AMC 59, Pearl 412, AMC S 17, AMC S 32 & Pearl 418

Pearl 419, DS 471, Matte 340, Pearl 414, AMC S 57

AMC 51, AMC S 15, AMC S 09, Pearl 405, AMC S 25
AMC S 26, Pearl 430, AMC S 49, AMC S 11, Pearl 406

AMC S 31, Matte 363, Pearl 409, DS 465, Matte 326
Pearl 450, Pearl 452, AMC 55, AMC S 37, Pearl 423

AMC S 25 (Duplicate Color), Matte 362, Matte 344, Matte 358, Pearl 399
Matte 332, Pearl 428, DS 483 (loaded with indigo glitter), Matte 338, Pearl 415
I have to say I love Inglot eyeshadows. They are so soft and velvety yet highly pigmented. All swatches I posted are without a primer and even the photo's don't do the products justice.
 
Processing time for the order was a bit lengthy, 7 days from order date til when I was generated a shipping confirmation, and then 2 days in transit from Brooklyn to Massachusetts. Items were sent in a yellow bubble mailer wrapped in bubble wrap. My package was a bit beat up but everything was intact. I was a bit surprised because I expected something a bit 'classier' from a brand like Inglot, maybe a box for better protection? This was my first order direct from Inglot so it is possible they were overwhelmed with Black Friday sales.

My main gripe about the entire experience is Inglots website. It is a bit frustrating even a tad overwhelming to use when attempting an order (esp a larger one). There are no swatches of products and a lot of the display colors look alike nor is there an easy way to differentiate the colors. You scroll through colors, entering the quantity desired in the box next to color, and add to cart when finished. It would be super awesome if the colors had descriptions or swatches since Inglot chooses to label their selection by numbers and not names.

Overall I love the product so much I plan on ordering from Inglot again - even if it means headache central when navigating/looking up swatches on other sites because I have to get my hands on some of their pinks & purples. I hope you enjoyed the swatches and as always, Thanks for Reading! XOXO
 
Inglot Eyeshadow Finishes:
Matte - Flat finish with no shine, shimmer, or sparkle
Pearl - Pearly sheen with a bit of a satiny frost but does not contain any bits of glitter
DS (Double Sparkle) - Matte based eyeshadow with sparkle
AMC (Advanced Makeup Component) - Semi-Matte base with sparkle but less glittery than DS finishes.
AMC Shine - Highly pigmented with a pearly, frosty finish. More shinier than Pearl finishes.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Beauty From The Earth: Swatches!

Oh BFTE,



 How I love thee. Let me count the ways! One, two, three.... looks like 10 ways today. I've been on quite a neutral kick the past 2 months so this order is primarily earthy toned goodness. BFTE has some of the prettiest neutral & earthy shades I've ever seen from a company. Their selection of Greens is 6 pages long ladies!




Canyon, Beautiful, Aurora & Dragonslayer
Canyon, Beautiful, Aurora & Dragonslayer
Sunkissed, Rockstar, Spruce & Nebula
Sunkissed, Rockstar, Spruce & Nebula
Gun Metal & Patriot
Gun Metal & Patriot
I've had Beautiful & Patriot prior but loved both so much I needed to order more. Yep, its that good. My new favorites out of this order is: Spruce & Dragonslayer. Both colors need to be owned by everyone. Spruce really is a stunning green which has some green/silver shift to it.

Hope you enjoyed today's swatches! Coming soon - a review of the new & limited BFTE Holiday Collections!